SG60 film Kopitiam Days to debut on Netflix and at Tokyo International Film Festival
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Zaliha Hamid (right) stars in the short film iZ-1, part of the Kopitiam Days anthology.
PHOTO: ZHAO WEI FILMS
SINGAPORE – The SG60 anthology film Kopitiam Days will premiere on Netflix Singapore on Nov 5, with its release in South-east Asia on the streaming platform expected to follow.
Since its gala premiere on Aug 5, a series of free screenings has been held at community hubs and centres. It did not get a theatrical release here.
Kopitiam Days will make its international premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) on Oct 30, where it will screen in the World Focus section, which showcases films that reflect current trends in world cinema.
TIFF kicked off on Oct 27 and runs until Nov 5.
Closed-door screenings of the film had also been held for Singaporeans abroad at Singapore embassies and High Commissions, including those in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Australia, according to its producer Clover Films.
Kopitiam Days’ six segments were directed by established and rising Singapore film-makers: Yeo Siew Hua, Shoki Lin, M. Raihan Halim, Tan Siyou, Don Aravind and Ong Kuo Sin.
A kopitiam, or coffee shop, a place of deep emotional resonance for Singaporeans, unifies the six short films.
Veteran local film-maker Eric Khoo served as executive producer and creative director on the project. Other executive producers included Lim Teck of Clover Films and Fran Borgia of Akanga Film Asia, with Tan Fong Cheng of Zhao Wei Films producing.
Khoo, 60, told The Straits Times that Kopitiam Days was meant to be seen by as many viewers as possible, so “Netflix was the right platform”.
“I’m also delighted that it is premiering at TIFF, one of my favourite film festivals,” he said.
Mr Eric Khoo, executive producer and creative director of Kopitiam Days.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Lim, 50, added: “It’s truly meaningful to see our story resonate beyond home. I am psyched that the movie will soon stream on Netflix, bringing our Singaporean story to audiences at home and across South-east Asia.”
Writer-director Raihan, 43, helmed the segment iZ-1, set in the near future and featuring a curmudgeonly, kampung-dwelling makcik (played by Zaliha Hamid) being cared for by a robot. It explores the contrast between modern lifestyles and technology with older ways of living.
His latest film, the music-filled drama Badak, is showing in Singapore cinemas.
He told ST: “The stories are told by six different directors, but they all tell one Singaporean story. Now the world can finally catch it in all its glory. We made Kopitiam Days for the big screen, and I am so happy that the audiences in Tokyo will get to experience the film in its purest and most cinematic form.”
(From left) Film-maker M. Raihan Halim in a cameo and actors Yang Shi Bin and Jennifer Wilkinson in the film The Morning Call, part of the Kopitiam Days anthology.
PHOTO: ZHAO WEI FILMS
Film-maker Ong, 51, directed the segment The Morning Call, about a girl who bonds with her grandfather, a coffee-shop owner, over a payphone – the iconic orange model fondly remembered by many Singaporeans. The film stars Yang Shi Bin, Yvonne Lim and newcomer Jennifer Wilkinson.
Ong, whose comedy-drama A Good Child is showing in Singapore cinemas, said: “I’m elated that Kopitiam Days will reach a wider audience on Netflix. Its world premiere selection at the Tokyo International Film Festival reaffirms that our Singapore stories are ready for the world.”
